With just three days of Patriots Training Camp gone by, some players are still becoming acquainted with some new and unfamiliar faces. But for some members of the Patriots secondary, it seems like the meet-and-greet is over, and the work is just beginning.
Last season with the Patriots, cornerback Devin McCourty had his fair share of struggles. One thing that people point to when analyzing McCourty's struggles, was the poor play at safety. This offseason, the Patriots upgraded the position with the free agent signing of Steve Gregory--a player that many think will fit perfectly into their secondary.
In appearing on Sirius-XM's "Movin' The Chains" program, McCourty talked about some of his first impressions of the veteran safeties:
"You can tell when a guy just has high football knowledge, he kind of comes in and he fits in right away," McCourty said of Gregory on "Movin' the Chains."
"Since he came in for OTAs, he's been making calls, getting guys lined up right, and that's not easy to do when you get to a new team and you're trying to learn a new scheme, lining guys up and trying to take control. At the safety position right away, I think it was big for us, the addition of having him back there."
McCourty wasn't the only member of the secondary to have nice things about a fellow defensive back, as Gregory himself had some nice things about Tavon Wilson--the Patriots' highly-questioned second-round selection. When asked about what he's seen so far from the rookie, Gregory had positive things to say.
"Oh, he's great," said Gregory. "He's a good football player We're all trying to learn the system together and play together. We're all new to each other and we're learning to play together. It's going well."
Speaking of Tavon Wilson, he also had some complimentary things to say about his new teammates. When asked about his transition to the NFL, Wilson says that he gets by with a little help from his (secondary) friends.
"All of our veterans have been great to me," said Wilson. "We have a working team here. Everyone on our team sticks together and expects a lot out of each other."
Sounds like we've got a love-triangle going on down at Patriots Training Camp.